A davit is a lifting tool which comprises a generally upright column and a jib attached to the column, with the column being mounted for rotation about an axis thereof A lifting tool such as a chain block is provided at a distal end of the jib to permit a load to be lifted. Once the load has been lifted the davit can be rotated about the axis of the column and the load can be lowered, using the lifting tool, and dropped in a new location within the arc of rotation of the davit. Davits are used in a diverse range of lifting applications, including applications in the water treatment industry such as lifting and moving heavy pumps and mixers, and medical applications such as lifting bedridden patients to move them onto trolleys in hospitals.
Existing davits suffer from a number of disadvantages. For heavy duty applications a davit, and in particular the column, must be strong and resistant to bending forces which are applied during lifting of a load. In order to impart the required strength to the davit heavy materials must be used, which reduces the portability of the davit. Additionally, most davits are designed for a specific purpose and cannot easily be adapted for another application. This leads to unnecessary expense, as separate davits must be acquired for different applications.